I am here with three other pastors from NJ at the invitation of our District Superintendent.  We have been praying together and dreaming about what this would be like starting in NJ.  Some of the presentations have been about the roadblocks and possible discouragements – disunity in your church, criticism from members, few people stepping up, lack of outward focus, feeling alone, lack of vision, etc.

And I don’t see that in our church.

Yeah, we make mistakes and we don’t always agree but I love our church.  We have vision and we want to make a difference in our communities and the world.  We have a great staff and we expect God to work in us and through us.  We have tons of volunteers working in youth and children and He Cares, We Care ministries.  I started to feel really great about our church and then I thought…

We don’t have an excuse.

If churches with all those problems are supposed to step through them and be the world changing church that God calls all of us to be, then what about us?  If we don’t have to overcome this stuff then what is keeping us from doing great things for God?

We don’t have an excuse.

We should be leading the way.  And why can’t we?  What if we believed that we can grow and expand in a lousy economy?  What if we believe we can bring hope to crumbling marriages and families out of work?  What if 48 baptisms a few weeks ago are only a fraction of those that God will lead us to this year?  What if we plant a church?  What if we actually raise twice the $250,000 that we pledged for missions?

What if God gives us one big dream that only He can fulfill and we will all know it when it happens?

Francis Chan is telling us to use all the “systems” and ideas you can find but make sure you sit down with the Bible and the Spirit and let God speak to you through the Word.  It’s about the Holy Spirit and his reign in our lives.  He’s right.

I don’t want an excuse.  I want a mission.

Tonight, come be a part of our mission…bringing hope.  Do you or your neighbors need hope about our economy?  Town Hall for Hope is a live simulcast with Dave Ramseyto bring clarity and direction for these challenging times.  Don’t miss the hope, tonight, at 8:00pm in the sanctuary.

The word passion comes from the Latin meaning “to suffer” or “to endure.”  Originally, the word was designated to refer only to Good Friday, to Christ’s sufferings on the cross.  Eventually, it was used to describe the entire week beginning with Palm Sunday and ending with Easter.  Christ’s endurance was not simply demonstrated on that Friday but throughout the five days leading up to it.  And the victory that ensued on the following Easter Sunday serves as the fruit of that endurance.

But there is another meaning to the word passion.  It means to do something with great emotion and intensity.  That too describes Jesus in this week that so many around the world will commemorate.  He rode into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday with resolute purpose.  He faced death on Good Friday with courage.  He rose up on Easter morning to complete the reason for which He came.

Clearly the word passion describes our Lord.  What we need to consider is if it describes his church.  Is the word applicable to us?  As we come together on Palm Sunday, Good Friday and Easter, do we do so out of duty or with passion.  Are we excited and moved by the commemoration of Jesus’ coronation, his sacrificial death and his incredible victory over death?  I hope so.

Check out the web or the weekend worship folder for all the Passion Week activities and times.

I hope to see you at all of them.

I think the services this past weekend represent who we are.  God is a God of first and second chances.  It was great to see those come forward who got a grasp on that.  Find Jesus.  Find life.  And that was only the first part of my thrill.  It was exciting to see how many of you came forward to pray for those who sought prayer.  At the 10:30 service alone 45 people were prepared to pray for others.  I don’t think I ever remember a weekend where so many were prepared to pray for other people.

Yeah.  That’s who we are.

And remember, we have designated the section in the sanctuary over by the stairs as the prayer mat.  After every service from now on you can pray and be prayed for there where the prayer banners will be stationed.

Actually, this weekend I was not there for every service.  I left to join Living Hope Alliance Church in Trenton for their service.  I had not visited them since they moved into their new building.  This is a building that the city donated to them free of charge for the good will they have brought to Trenton.  Amazing.  God does the incredible.  They have a building, a parking lot, and a yard that is large enough for two soccer fields.  Pretty cool.

And this weekend is baptism.  Come prepared to rejoice.  Come prepared to here how Jesus is relevant today.  And some of you should come prepared to get wet.  Just wait and you’ll see what I mean.

Whew!  See you this weekend.

We are entering into the final two weeks of our Ecclesia series.  We will be looking at the two sacraments practiced by the Protestant Church - communion and baptism.  Communion symbolizes the doorway to the church.  Christ’s sacrifice on the cross paves the way for personal cleansing and a relationship with God.  Josh will be sharing this weekend and I ask that everyone be praying for a clear message and call concerning the sacrifice of Christ and the elements of communion that facilitate our remembrance of that event.  We trust some will make a decision this weekend to enter that door they have only previously gazed at from a distance.  Then we hope they will be baptized the following week.  We have several young people scheduled for baptism on the final weekend of the series and we would love to have more of you participate.  Matt will be bringing the message and I will have the privilege of baptizing everyone.

Let me ask.  Have you made a decision to follow Christ?  Have you followed it up with baptism?  These next two weeks could be excitingly crucial for you in taking a significant step forward in experiencing life to the fullest.

See you this weekend.

“Ah, Sovereign Lord,” I said, “I do not know how to speak; I am only a child.”  But the Lord said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am only a child.’ You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you.  Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you,” declares the Lord.

Pretty clear, huh?  I called the next day and 6 months later I was in Thailand.

I trust the daily readings are a source of encouragement to you.  The Word speaks today as it did when it was first written.  It is a living and powerful thing, inspired by the Spirit and designed for our direction and correction.  Make the effort.  Its worth it.

And speaking of Thailand, please continue to seek God for your part in partnering with the mission vision of PAC.  Checks made out to Princeton Alliance Church should include the letters “GCF” in the note section.  Pray for Timothy Jeng and Vision Thailand 2010.  Pray for David and Cindy Peace in New Delhi.  Ask God where he might want you to join in forming a team to go overseas this year or next.  This could be something big for us and for his kingdom.

Men, see you this Saturday morning at the breakfast.  Everyone else, see you this weekend.

Ash Wednesday was nicely placed between the first two weeks of our series on the church entitled, Ecclesia.  Last week we started the series with Christ as the head of the church.  Ash Wednesday allowed us to continue in reflection of Christ and how real repentance and new life starts with us as the church.  Then this coming week is about elders.  Now that we acknowledge Christ as our Lord, who helps us stay on track?  I hope you can come and hear what the Bible says about the office of elder this weekend.

Then next weekend we will talk about the mission of the church - the Great Commission.  We will have a guest speaker from Thailand, one of our three focus countries.  Timothy Jeng has served the church in Thailand for 30 years and is a personal friend of mine.  I am sure that you will have a greater understanding of that country, and even more importantly a greater passion to partner with Timothy there, after meeting him the weekend of March 7-8.

Don’t forget to faithfully bring your Faith Promise funds.  What you pledged in December for the current year’s mission fund is critical in supporting the work in Thailand.  We can’t give it until you do.  Just mark your check GCF (Great Commission Fund) when you make it out to Princeton Alliance Church (check bulletin for details).

See you this weekend.

I am also excited about our new series, Ecclesia.  We talk a lot about what we should do and be as followers of Christ but rarely teach about the fundamentals of the Body he created that we call Church.  We will start at the top this week.  Who leads?  And why?  Come prepared to actively worship as we look at an incredible passage in Colossians 1.

We would love to have you join us for our first Ash Wednesday service this coming Wednesday, February 25 from 7-8 p.m.  Ash Wednesday was instituted by the early church to prepare for Easter.  It was to be a time of rededication and sacrifice in honor of the one who died and rose on our behalf.  In that spirit we will prepare together this Wednesday.

See you on the weekend.

I appreciated the support in the votes cast for both the budget and the board nominees.  Both have been overwhelmingly passed.  We will be reporting back to you on a regular basis concerning the finances.  I want to make sure to keep you current on both what is coming in and going out.  I also appreciated your support, as well as the board’s, for the completion of my Ph.D.  The plaque was a generous surprise.

We have a guest speaker for our Valentine’s Day weekend.  Dr. David Schroeder will be with us from Somerset Christian College.  Somerset Christian College is a close neighbor both geographically and in their passion to raise up Christian leaders for our world.  Come and listen.

We will be starting our next series about the church next weekend.  We call it Ecclesia.  It wil be five weeks to hear what God says we should be together.  I can’t wait.

And take the chance to join me this Sunday at 2 p.m. for D1, the Discovering Community class that serves as our gateway to membership.

See you this weekend, and at D1, and at the first session of Financial Peace University.

Let me reflect a bit on the journey to my Ph.D.  It started in the Fall of 2000 and every step has been carefully measured while raising a family, working, and pursuing a degree with comrades half my age.  I can remember my first classes and thinking how out of touch I was and how much I needed to learn.  A few years later I faced comprehensive exams in four areas of study.  I thought if there was a point of failure it would be there.  But God was gracious.  And I moved on to the dissertation stage.  That was over four years ago.  Now it was the church’s turn to be gracious as I was granted this last summer off in order to work on this document full time.

So yesterday was the culmination of all the effort.  An hour and a half with five professors from three different institutions, all trying to outdo each other in the intensity and intricacy of their questions, took the last bit of starch right out of my shirt!  But I passed.  And I feel pretty good about it.

But the reason for the rambling is to say thanks.  Thanks to all of you for your patience in this pursuit.  Thanks especially to the Board for allowing me so much time off to write.  Thanks to my wife who gets a husband back and my kids who get their dad back.  And thanks to God who remains faithful even when we are not.

Now I am off to spend three days around a table with 8 other pastors of CMA churches of over 1000 attendees.  This is the third year I have done this and it has been some of the most productive and helpful time spent for me in my personal development.

But I will miss you this weekend.  This is such an important series to start 2009.  I hope you are seeing how much the Bible has to say about financial matters.  I also hope you have found our suggestings and resources concerning debt, unemployment, and budgeting very practical and helpful.  So this weekend Josh will paint you a picture of the generous church we want to be in 2009.  And next weekend when I return we will take a brief glance back at 2008 and then I will lay out our continuing vision of what that generosity will look like in the coming months.  Let’s be that church that continues to see beyond…

Have you signed up for the Financial Peace University seminar starting February 15?  I have.  I know I can benefit.  There is another informational meeting about the seminar this weekend.  Can you imagine if we all went through this together?

Something to think about.

Whether you are living paycheck to paycheck, dealing with ever-increasing debt, are unemployed, face retirement, are considering the price of college, or just aren’t on the same page as your spouse, there is something we can all learn to do better with our own finances.  We will spend this whole series learning how specific Scripture is in teaching about finances.  Please avail yourself of the practical help we will continue to arrange during these weeks, particularly the Financial Peace University seminar that starts in February.

This year will surely offer new opportunities for outreach to others – both individually and as a church community.  A year of financial struggle for many families must be the year when God wants his church to respond with even greater compassion!  At the completion of the Money series, I want to begin to share ways we can help many people experience the fullness of life that God designed. 

This weekend Josh will be sharing what God’s Word says about budgeting and financial planning.  For now, it’s back to the books for me, as I prepare to defend my dissertation this Tuesday.

See you this weekend!